Nicole James, LMT

I am a somatically literate therapist.

My work is organized around one thing: reading living tissue and responding to what it is doing in real time.

I don’t work from a style. I work from what’s under my hands.

Early in my career — even in school — I noticed that my hands didn’t want to follow routines. They wanted to stay, to wait, to track, to respond to tissue change rather than move on because a sequence or a clock said so. I didn’t have language for that then. I do now.

At the core of my practice is tissue-led work. I pay attention to what tissue is doing, and I let that determine what comes next. I don’t move off areas until something has actually shifted. I’m not working from preset techniques. I’m tracking change under my hands.

What I’m reading is not abstract. I’m tracking tone, density, elasticity, drag, recoil, temperature, responsiveness — how tissue softens, resists, and reorganizes in real time.

I also stay in communication with the person. Comfort is not separate from the work; it is part of the work. I check in. I adjust. I make room. Tissue changes more readily when people don’t have to hold themselves together.

Over time, this way of working moved my practice beyond symptom-focused massage into what I describe as applied somatic literacy: a practice grounded in trained perception and long-term observation of tissue behavior.

The literacy lives in my hands. The work is the reading.

I specialize in private, in-home care because it supports this depth of work. Familiar environments allow tissue patterns to emerge more clearly. Continuity allows changes to build rather than reset. This is the foundation of my retainer-based model and long-term client relationships.

My practice includes work with children, adults, and elders. Over the years, I’ve worked across rehabilitation settings, extended continuity-based care, high-performance lifestyles, and emotionally demanding personal environments. This range has sharpened my perception and informs how I work with every person on the table.

Nicole James Bodywork is a private mobile practice based in Bozeman and Big Sky, offering in-home and travel-based care for clients who require discretion, continuity, and intelligent, tissue-led work. Ongoing and destination travel support is also available.

Outside of sessions, you’ll usually find me on Montana trails, on a yoga mat, or tracking down unforgettable meals — the simple rhythms that keep my own system clear, grounded, and responsive.